William baxter



(No Model.)

w. BAXTER, Jr. VOLTAIG ARG LIGHT.

Patented' Nov. 6,

N. remis. mmm. wllwm. D. a

Unirse Srnirns Winnimii BAXTER, l`or Jnnsnr CITY, NEW Jnnsnr.

'SPECIFICATION forming partlofV Lette'sflac't, No. I2558,15?,datedNovember 6, TSS. y

` Application-fileddunuary i9, 1883. (No model.) r

sey City, in Hudson county, 4New Jersey, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Voltaic-Arc Lights, fully described andrepresented in the following specification andthe accompanying drawings,forming apart ofthej K ibut, on the other hand, both carbonsare vve'o'n-Same.

llhis invention consists in an improved vapj paratus for burning anelectric-arc light vilnja.

closed receiver; and its nature and :the combinations of mechanismemployed 'will be ful-l'y understood from the drawings and description.

The advantages of incl'osin'g an "arc-'light 'in a .chamber Whichisair-tight, or practically so,

are numerous. In the first place it .reduces the consumption of thecarbone. Inth'esecond place it prevents all ilickering'of thelight thatj is due to the action of strong currents `of air;

upon the are, orto the vibrations oi' 'the can bons caused `by suchcurrents, or to the blaze; ing up of the arc,V 'which is 'so common finlong: arcs with currents fof high tension and small' quantity. In myinvention the electrodes, af-,f ter being properly adjusted and securedin their respective holders, areplaced Within a closely- Asi soon as thecurrent is turned on and thefarcis formed, combustion begins; butastheamount fitted or practically air-tight receiver.

of oxygen confined in the receiver is very small, it soon' enters into:combustion with the substance of the electrodaforming an oxide, Y Asyit requires about onehundred and fifty cubic `:feet of air` to convertone Ipound ofcarbon into Ecarb onc acid, it is evident that' if thereceiver which holds the carbone has a c'apacity'of onethird of a, cubicfoot, thea'mount of carbon'reg and thus preventing further combustion.

quired to absorblall the oxygen would be a` very small portion of theWhole.

When an arc-light burns in'th'copen air, the carbone are consumed inpart by oxidation and in part by thetransfer of minutepart-icle's fromone pole to the other. When the arc is inclosed in. an air-tightreceiver such as luse, all the consu'mptiondue to chemical 'action isprevented, and the disintegration caused by the passage of the currentis reduced in great degree. This decrease in consumption by the actionof the current is due to the fact 'that when the are is maintained inthe fopen fair some ofthe carbon particles in passingffrom one electrodeto the other are divert-ed from theirrcourseby the action of thewind-,sothau although there is a tendency to accumulat'eon one carbon asmuch matter asis takeno the other, no such action is noticeable inpractice;

su'med.V When4 the arc burns in an 'airtight 5 globe, the amount ofmatter Whichis deposited 'upon 'the lower `carbon is about equal 'tothat 'which vis taken from it7 so that its actual confsuniptionisinappreciable. An ordinary/Zarclightis strongly affected by4 high winds,vand the' arc is frequently blown out entirely, Anecessitating anvactual contact of the cai-bons Ato re-establish'it; or the upper carbonlis :caused to vibrate, thus making the light V'very nnst'eady. When thearc becomes too greatfand the current thereby Weakened,'the carbonsafieapt to blaze up. This not only increases Athe consumption of the carbon,but reduces theintensity ofthe light and changes its color, lbecause theflame shades the arc, stopping the light and changing the color of suchlight as passes through. In my lamp thea'rc cannot blaze up, becausethere is no oxygen present to support combustion, and without'combustion there can be no blaze. The-action 'ofthe electrodes under.these conditions Aalso tends to maintain the focus of the light at thesaine point continuously, owing to the deposiltupon the apex oi thelower carbon, and my lamp is therefore peculiarly adapted for useivithfa reflector.

In the devices heretofore employed 4'to protect the arc from oxidationand from iatures'- pheric disturbances constructions have been employedwhich do not applyto thessp'ende'd arc-light regulators now in general'user or Whichdo not afford the same convenience in removing the globefor cleaning or when broken as in my construction. As la globei's liableto be broken at any time and requires cleaning Whenever a new carb on isinserted, lit

is obvious that a small point in the connection results obtained byinclosing an arc-light'i'n 'ico lt Will therefore be seentha-twhile the3o no pressure exerted upon such joint, the slight Vdisturbance ofequilibrium of' pressure caused Y VIo 2 l u essere? an air-tight chamberare far superior to those obtained in the ordinary way, unless thedevices employed, to accomplish the purpose are such as cause objectionsin no other direction, they can have no practical value. As it isnecessary, even in an air-tight arc-lamp, to renew the carbons from timeto time, it must be so made that this can be done readily. It is also'necessary that the carbons should be fed together by some automaticmechanism governed by the current, and as this may be derangedbon-chamber and the regulator-chamber, so'

` that the positive electrode may move into the carbon-chamber through ajoint tight enough to prevent any circulation of air, because it isuseful to protect the feeding mechanism from the corroding-gasesliberated by the action of electric arc upon the carbon and othermatters associated therewith. As the receiver in which the arc burns isnot exhausted, there is by the consumption of the oxygen in the receiverG being immediately made good by a passage of air from the case B, pastthe pack- -ing c, into the receiver C, and there is therefore nodifficulty in securing the desired result by passing the rod which holdsthe carbon through a closely-iittinghole, or through a iieXible disk ofyielding but air-tight material, as india-rubber. f

In the drawings annexed I have shown two different constructions for theconnection between the glass globe used to inclose the carbons-and theframe ofthe mechanism used to regulate the movements of the adjustablecar- Figure l isa side elevation, chiefly in section, at the center lineof a lamp in which the globe is clamped between two movable frames.

Fig. 2 is a similar view of a lamp in which theV larged sectional viewof the lower part of the casing B.

My improvements are intended for application to all forms of arc-lighthaving a moving carbon, and their operation is entirely inde- 'pendentofthe mechanical construction or operation of the regulating-devices,beingbased upon the chemical constitution of the carbons and theiraction when operated to form an electric arc.

In the drawings, A is the regulator, shown of the form described in apatent previously allowed to me, and havinga casing, B, of' cylindricalform, applied to inclose it entirely from the air. Although round, thecasing constitutes the supporting-frame for the regulating .Y

mechanism, and is shown herein las provided with a frame, B, at thebottom, in which the movable carbon is accommodated while it is fed intothe arc-receiver C. In this receiver the car- Vbons meet and form thelight, and as the movable carbon is the one almost exclusively consumed,the point of meeting is about the middle of the depth of the glassglobe, which is now never made deep enough to accommodate the whole ofthe movable carbon, as the latter is formed of as great length aspossible to secure durability. A suitable inclosed space ab ove theglobe is therefore required in my invention, to accommodate the carbonand the holder by which it is propelled. The holder is shown herein asattached to the lower end of a long feed-rod, b, actuated automaticallyby the regu- A a lating devices.I

The regulator as constructed by me consists of certain magneto-electricdevices actuated bythe voltaic current, and operating upon two rollers,a a, Fig. l, which are mounted so as to clamp the carbon-rod b, and torotate at the same rate as the carbon is consumed.

As the regulating and propelling devices are immaterial, to theoperation of my improvement, they are not fully illustrated here/- in,the connection of the`receiver with the reg- IOO ulator A by its framebeing the material part of the construction. Such connection consists informing a seat, G, upon the frame B/, against which seat the receiver isheld by various clamping devices. Thatshown in Fig. l consists in asliding cross-bar, E, fitted to the frame B, and connected by two rods,E', to a I bottom frame, F, carrying the lower-carbon holder F. A seat,G', is formed around the holder F', and the globe() is clamped between`the two seats by forcing the bar E upward by a nut, H, applied to ascrew-thread, c, upon the outside of the frame or sleeve B. Uponslacking the nut the frame F isseparatfed from the frame B', and theglobe can be removed, the points of the carbons being in practice thusseparated sufficiently to tip the globe over between them. The seats areshown supplied with a layer of packing, d-as asbestusheld in place by aring, d, and screws c.

In`Fig. 2 the receiver is shown as a globe open only at the top end,into which the lower-carbon holder F is suspended by two rods, f, theupper ends of which are secured in a flange, g, formed upon the frame Blinside the seat G. The margin ofthe seat is shown provided with fourlugs, h, and clamping-screws li', and the globe is formed with anannular projecting flange, z', having a bevel upon its under side, sothat it may be pressed against IIO ` fr' and their arrangement.

^ pressure.

assaut" Y Y i `3 the seat by the points of the screws h', upon which theglobe hangs. The slacking of two or more of the screws enables theflange i to be slipped off of the screws and the globe dropped down toexpose the carbons.

l'llhe screws h (shown in Figs. 2 and 3)` operate to induce a movementin the iiang'e 'i at right angles to the direction or length of thescrews, owing to the bevel upon the under side of the flange, and thepoints of the screws may therefore be tapered, as shown in the figures,lor rounded, if preferred.

Figs. 3 and a show the ring d and the screws c for holding the packing dupon the seats G and G, and the former gure shows the screws From thisview it is obvious that three screws might be used,

`as a very light pressureis suihcient to make a joint upon-a receiverhaving the same internal and external pressure, as in my constructions,and that for the purposes of this invention a tight joint is very easilymade and maintained from the absence ,of any material As the frames ofarc lights or lamps differ from one another, it is obvious that the modeof connecting the trunk to thesame would need to be modified to suit thevarious frames used, but that to carry out my invention it must make asubstantially air-tight joint with the casing and receiver both.k Thismay be done in other than the two ways shown herein in Figs. 1 and 2,and I do not therefore limit myself to the precise mode of connection,provided a trunk be used, as shown and described, to accommodate thelong body of the carbon above the receiver C, and the body of the rod b,projected. down from the casing B when the carbon is nearly consumed.Such Y trunk obviates the usevof a glass globe as deep as the length ofthe uppercarbon, and secures a removable and close contact or connectionbetween the globe-receiver and the casing B.

I am aware that globes have been fastened to hinged metallic tubes forsecuring easy access to the carbons, and do not therefore claim anyhinge or permanent connection between my receiver and trunk, (or casing)the object of my invention being to secure the entire removal of thereceiver from the lamp or carbon-holders as the most convenient means ofcleaning the globes and replacing a broken one with a new one.

In Fig. 5 is shown an enlarged sectional view of the lower part of theeasing B, exhib iting the construction of thepacking or joint f aroundthe rod b, and showing a'safety-valve `seated in the casing at itsbottom. The valve is constructed of a screw, t, inserted loosely in asmooth round hole drilled through the shell of the casing. Anut isapplied to the end of the screw inside the casing, anda spring, u.serves to hold the head kof the screw against the outside of the easingto stop the hole. Any expansion of the gases in the receiver C is feltin the casing B, 4and a sufficient amount is discharged around the stem0f' the screw to produce an equilibrium of x, a hole being made inthecenter of the disk to lit the rod, which would then bend the disk atthe center, as shown, and slip through it freely while still in contacttherewith. Vith such a joint between the casing of the regulator and thereceiver, the former need not necessarily be made air-tight, but may beopen yto constant inspection. I have, however, shown the regulator inall the views provided with the usual dust-excluding casing, B, and forthe purposes of this invention I form it with a joint, as at q in Fig.l, to admit of removing the casing to regulate the mechanism inside. Thejoint g is formed by screwing the upper part of the case upon the lower,and when the j upper .part is removed and fresh air admitted, thepacking c serves to prevent free access of Vsuch air to the receiver,which would occur if an open channel existed between them. It is notrequired that the packing o shall be so tightv as to absolutely preventthe passage of air, because, as before stated, the pressure IOO holderF', from the trunk B or receiver-seat g G, thus maintaining the lowercarbon in its normal position when the receiver is removed.

lam' aware that certain elements of my invention have been used before,and are shown in British Patents Nos. 2,7%E of 1880 and 2,563 of 1881,and l do not therefore claim the same, except as hereinafterspecifically set forth.

I am aware that devices have been made to operate an arc-light in atight receiver and to feed `a regulated supply of air thereto, and donot claim herein any construction adapted to such a mode of operation.

My invention is adapted to secure a more convenient means of access tothe interior of thereceiver and casing, and consists, therefore,

in constructive features such as I have herein claimed only. I

Having thus fully set forth the nature of my invention, I claim asfollows;

1. The casing B, inclosing the regulator and the receiver C4 for thecarbon peints, constituting a practically air #tight inclosure for saidregulator and carbon points, separated into two independent chambers bya packing IIO 4 i Y n @sealer or slip-joint, throughv which thecarbon-rod b passes, as set iorth. I

2. The regulator-case B, provided with the packing c, the frame B',provided With the seat G, and bevel-pointed screws h, combined with thereceiver G, having a-lange, i, around its mouth, adapted to engage thepointed ends of the screws h and be thereby forced against i 'the seatG, as setforth.

3. The combination, with the casing B, rod

-b, frame B', connected tightly to the receiver,

and the receiver itself, of the flexible packed joint for the rod b,formed of the yielding Washer o and clampingring w, as herein shown anddescribed.

hand in the presence of tWo subscribing Witnesses.

` WVM. BAXTER, JR. Witnesses: p

v Trios. S. CRANE,

W. F. D. CRANE.

